Currently, child support systems rely heavily on telephonic or in-person communications between custodial and non-custodial parents and state agency staff. Even simple questions about such things as status of support payments have to be answered by talking to a staff member with dedicated computer terminals connected directly to intra-agency computer systems, resulting in the custodial parents having very little active participation in the management of their cases.
Parents and state staff members also rely on mail to communicate. However, correspondence sent through the postal system is slow and may get lost. Further, postage costs place a heavy burden on already strained budgets.
What is needed is a system that allows parents involved in a child support case to access information immediately without speaking directly to a state agency staff member or waiting for correspondence.